A Day to Remember
by Admetus
Summary: Etcetera and Electra decide to sneak out of the junkyard. They have never been out before and end up having all sorts of adventures... xx
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note**

_Thanks for reading, I hope you like it! All feedback is welcome!_

_I don't own any of the characters!_

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

Electra opened her eyes to see Etcetera jumping up and down beside her. "Wake up!", Etcetera hissed again. She was trying to be quiet and kept glancing over her shoulder at the adults who were all still asleep. "We were going to go out exploring, remember? You said you'd be up on time, before they could all wake up and tell us not to go."

Electra yawned and sat up, "I'm coming, Etcetera. Calm down." She looked around at all the other cats and felt a little bit bad about sneaking off and not telling her friends. "Are you sure we shouldn't take the others with us?", she asked looking at the other kittens who were still fast asleep.

But Etcetera wasn't listening, she was already outside pacing up and down impatiently. "Hurry up, Electra! What are you doing?", she called back over her shoulder. She was really excited and wanted to set off strait away and was a bit annoyed that Electra was taking so long.

Inside Electra was just getting up to go when Jennyanydots turned over in her sleep and muttered something. The kitten froze hoping she wouldn't wake up and they wouldn't get into trouble. She stood for a few moments holding her breath but Jennyanydots didn't wake up or move again so she crept outside. It was still very dark outside and it was quiet cold. Electra didn't feel as sure about their idea as she had last night when Etcetera had suggested it..

Before she could say anything an overexcited Etcetera had grabbed her by the tail and was pulling her across the junk yard. "Hurry up!", Etcetera repeated with her mouth full of tail. She was going so fast that Electra was finding it hard to stay upright.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Get off! I'm coming!", Electra pulled her tail out of her sister's mouth.

"Well come on then. I wouldn't need to pull you if you just came. Somebody might wake up." Etcetera didn't feel bad about sneaking off. She hadn't even thought about how worried everybody would be or that something might happen to them. She was just keen to be off on their adventure and she felt very grown up at the idea of going out without an adult.

The two kittens ran across the junk yard as fast as they could. "Race you!", Electra called and put on a spurt of speed. Etcetera sped up to catch up with her. They were both panting and laughing by the time they reached the road at the edge of the junk yard.

"We did it!", Etcetera laughed as they looked up and down the road feeling pleased with herself for escaping without being caught. Both kittens stopped laughing as they realised that they had no idea which way to go. "Which way?", Etcetera asked looking uncertain.

"Let's go that way," said Electra trying to sound more grown up and confident than she actually felt. The road looked dark and creepy and she would much rather be back in bed where it was nice and warm and safe, but she didn't want Etcetera to know that and think she was a coward.

Etcetera was also not sure about this adventure any more, but it had been her idea and she would look silly if she backed out now, so she nodded and they set off together both glancing back over their shoulders.


	2. Chapter 2

Etcetera and Electra walked down the road together. "Isn't this exciting?", Etcetera said after a long silence.

There was a long pause. "Very exciting," answered Electra. They walked on in silence. Both of them were wishing the other one would suggest going back. It was quiet scary being out alone in the dark.

A big black car sped past them making them both jump. "Look at us," laughed Etcetera, "jumping at a car." She was starting to feel adventurous again.

Electra smiled. It was impossible to feel scared when Etcetera seemed so happy to be out. The two of them wandered on laughing at how silly they were for being scared of the dark.

"Look at me!" Etcetera called jumping onto a wall and balancing along it. "Bet you can't do this. Bet you can't even get up here!"

"Bet I can!" Electra answered and took a run up and jumped onto the wall. She pretended to push Etcetera, who leapt forwards out of her way laughing.

"Missed me!" she called. By now both kittens had forgotten to be afraid. It was getting slowly lighter as they ran along the wall jumping at each other trying to push the other one off the wall. Etcetera leapt along the wall. "Can't catch me!" she called to Electra and pulled her tail.

Electra laughed "This is so much more fun that playing at home." She jumped round and swatted at Etcetera. "Got you! Catch me if you can!" Electra ran off along the wall with Etcetera running as fast as she could to catch up.

"Wait for me!" Etcetera laughed, "You know you're faster than me. I can't catch up."

Her sister slowed down. "You just don't want me to win," she giggled, "if you tried harder you could catch up."

"No I couldn't," answered Etcetera. She joined Electra panting and out of breath. "I need a break." She was now stood right behind Electra.

"Ok, we can take a break if you want," said Electra.

Suddenly Etcetera stopped panting and jumped on Electra. She had only been pretending to be out of breath to get close enough to try and win the game.

Electra screamed and ducked. She wobbled and nearly fell off the wall. "You cheat!", she exclaimed and turned to complain to Etcetera but she couldn't see her anywhere. Then she noticed her on the floor by the wall. When Electra ducked Etcetera had jumped past her and fallen off the wall. "I win! I win!" Electra cheered.

"That wasn't fair!" Etcetera complained. She looked up at Electra who was dancing about on the wall laughing. "She always cheats," Etcetera thought to herself, but she wasn't really cross about loosing. It was just a game after all. "Come down, Electra!" she called up.

Electra had suddenly frozen mid dance and was staring at something over Etcetera's shoulder. She looked scared. "Etcetera watch out!" she shrieked.

Etcetera whirled round to see a huge, hairy, back dog running straight at her barking like mad. She couldn't move she just stared at it. She had never seen a dog that big before.

Electra was still on the wall screaming. "Etcetera jump!"

Her sisters finally seemed to hear her and tried to jump back onto the wall. "It's too high!" she wailed. The wall had been getting slowly higher the further along the had gone. Etcetera kept looking back over her shoulder at the dog as she tried to jump up. She had never been so scared in all her life and wished she was back at home. "What do I do?" she shouted up to Electra.

"Run!" Electra called down and she began to run along the wall.

Etcetera turned to run away and slipped on some rubbish spilling out of a nearby bin. Her paws scrabbled at the rubbish as she tried to escape from the dog. "Help!", she screamed and managed to dive behind the bin as the dog reached her.

"Etcetera!" Electra screeched to a halt and ran back.

Etcetera had managed to leap onto the bin and launch herself from there onto the wall. The dog leapt after her. It's huge teeth snapped shut just inches from Etcetera's leg. "Run! Run!", she yelled at Electra and they sprinted along the wall as fast as they could. The dog was so huge that jumping it could reach the top of the wall and it kept snapping and barking at them as they fled along the wall.

"Faster, Etcetera! Faster!" Electra shouted. The dog was terrifying and it seemed to be catching up with them. Electra and Etcetera kept glancing back over their shoulders and the dog seemed nearer ever time. Electra couldn't think about anything apart from escaping from the horrible dog. She didn't even notice the end of the wall until it was too late. She tried to screech to a halt but Etcetera hurtled into her and she flew off the end of the wall.__ She didn't even have time to scream before she hit the floor. "My paw!" she wailed.

Etcetera landed next to her. "What happened? Are you ok?"

Before Electra could answer the dog had come hurtling round the end of the wall barking and snarling. It saw it's prey huddling by the wall and licked it's lips. The kittens sat rooted to the spot shaking with terror. They couldn't take their eyes off the huge teeth coming menacingly closer. The dog was only inches away from them now and they were both sure they would get mauled when a person ran up shouting and waving her arms.

"Come here! Bruno! Come!", she shouted and grabbed the dog's thick leather collar. "Don't you go running off again! What were you doing? Stupid dog!" She dragged the horrible monster away without seeing the kittens crouching in the shadows.

The dog turned and tried to pull away from it's owner glaring at the kittens, it's eyes bulging with rage. They shrank back against the wall and shuddered. They had only just been saved from being eaten by the dog.


	3. Chapter 3

For a while neither of the kittens could move they just stayed sat by the wall shaking. "Should we go home?", Etcetera eventually asked in a small voice. She was now wishing she had never had the stupid idea to go on an adventure in the first place. She felt horrible that Electra had been hurt because of an idea she had had. It was all her fault. She looked at Electra who was slowly moving her hurt paw.

"I don't think it's too bad," Electra told Etcetera, "I think it's feeling a bit better already." She was fed up of adventures and just wanted to go home now. "I think we should head for home."

It was properly light now and more and more cars were passing them. Together Electra and Etcetera turned and slowly made their way along the pavement back in the direction they had come. They walked in silence both too tired and upset to bother talking.

Etcetera also felt a bit sad that the day out had ended so soon and so badly. She really wished they had gone the other way or never seen the dog.

Electra was thinking about the others. They would all be awake now and probably worrying about them. Now they weren't talking or playing she felt terrible and guilty for sneaking off.

About halfway back the kittens passed a children's playground on the other side of the road. It was early morning so there were no children there. They were all at home or on their way to school. Electra stopped, looking across the road.

Etcetera carried on for a few steps without noticing.

"Etcetera", Electra called, "look at that! That looks fun. We could just go over before we go home."

Etcetera looked back, "That playground? I'd love to play there!" She came back to join Electra. "Look! There's a slide and swings! Come on, Electra!" She jumped off the pavement almost right in front of a car.

"Etcetera!" Electra leapt forwards and pulled her back off the road by the tail. The car thundered past them. "Stupid cat!" the driver yelled out the window at them.

"That was close", Etcetera laughed but inside she felt shaken. She had almost been killed by a dog and now a car. She was upset but didn't want Electra to see.

"Don't be so stupid! That car could have hit you!", Electra told her,"look watch me this is how you cross the road." She looked both ways, waited until there were no cars and hurried across the road. "Come on! You should have listened when Jennyanydots was telling us how to cross roads. It's so typical that you weren't listening." She felt very grown up telling Etcetera how to do something. It almost made up for the time last week when Etcetera had caught that mouse all by herself and she had missed her mouse.

Etcetera checked for cars and followed Electra across the road. "Made it!"

"Ok. Don't do that again! Now let's go and play." Electra squeezed under the fence and into the playground.

Etcetera jumped over the fence. She was showing off a bit to make up for having made such a silly mistake crossing the road. She ran over and jumped onto a swing. "Look at me!", she called as she swung backwards and forwards clinging on to the swing with her claws.

The slide was wet so when Electra tried to climb up it she slid straight back down again. Etcetera laughed at her from her swing. "Come and play on the swings", she suggested to Electra.

Soon they were laughing together sat on a swing each, swinging past each other trying to grab the other one without being caught themselves. They were having so much fun they had forgotten all about going home. The dog seemed like a bad dream ages ago.

At about 9 o'clock a group of mothers and little children came to the playground. The kittens jumped off the roundabout they had just climbed onto and went to leave the playground. "Look cats," one of the mothers pointed them out, "they are so cute! Such an interesting colour!" The other mothers gathered round and one of them held out a cat treat from in her pocket. "Come here. Come on. Good cats," she cooed, "they are only little."

Etcetera bounced over to her at the sight of the treat and began to rub against her legs. "Look, Electra. She likes us!"

Following more slowly Electra let one of the other mothers stroke her. "They seem quite nice," she admitted.

One of the little children had come over and the woman with the cat treat was showing her how to stroke a cat. Etcetera was purring happily and enjoying all the attention.

"We should really be going, Etcetera," Electra said.

"Just a bit longer. They are all so nice," answered Etcetera with her mouth full of another cat treat.

"I'm getting hungry. We should find something to eat." They had both forgotten all about going home early and Electra had forgotten that she had hurt her paw. They both just assumed they were staying out all day like they had planned.

Etcetera rubbed against the woman's legs one last time as a goodbye and the kittens ran across the playground, dodging little children, and ducked under the opposite fence to the one they had come in under and went off in search of something to eat.


	4. Chapter 4

"Where are we going to find anything nice to eat?", Etcetera asked as the two kittens walked through a small side street.

"I don't know," replied Electra,"I guess we'll just have to look around for something." She didn't feel at all sure that they would find anything tasty.

The street they were walking down was narrow and had no food shops or restaurants. There was a charity shop, a book shop, some small clothes shops and some rather old looking houses with scruffy front gardens and overflowing bins. An old black cat was lounging on the front step of one of the houses.

"Hello,"said Etcetera walking towards the cat,"can you tell us...?" Before she could finish the cat got up, sniffed haughtily and disappeared through an old cat flap into the house. Etcetera stood looking like she had been slapped. She had never met anyone that rude before. "That wasn't very nice," she said and her lip wobbled like she was going to cry.

Electra put her head on Etcetera's shoulder. "Don't let it bother you. We're grown up. We don't need help. Come on. We can find food by ourselves."

With a sniff Etcetera set off again with Electra. She was a bit hurt by the rude behaviour but she had never been in this part of town before and had soon forgotten about it looking at strange sights. The further they walked the busier the streets got. There were now lots of people pushing past each other on the pavement and Electra and Etcetera had to walk right by the buildings to avoid being stepped on. People hurried in and out of shops carrying shiny new plastic bags. Hundreds of different songs were playing in hundreds of different shops. By now it was lunch time and business people were all out buying lunch.

The kittens followed a man with a chicken sandwich for a bit hoping he would drop some but he didn't. They were distracted by a shop window full of shiny gold and silver. "It's so beautiful", Electra whispered. Inside they could see a woman holding gold earrings up and looking at herself in a mirror. At another counter a woman was being shown a collection of silver bracelets. The kittens watched fascinated as the lights caught the jewellery and sparkled on the counter.

"I'm hungry," Etcetera said eventually and they reluctantly set off again in search of food. They looked into all the shop windows in the hope of seeing somebody buying food but all they saw was clothes, shoes, perfume, books and lots of other things they didn't recognise.

"We're never going to find any food," sighed Electra after about an hour of searching. She was hungry fed up and the music and noise was giving her a headache. It was too busy and there were far too many people for her taste. In the crowd they had got completely lost and she couldn't remember which direction they had come from but she didn't want to tell Etcetera this. "No need to worry her," she thought to herself.

Etcetera wasn't listening to her sister. She had noticed a child in a pushchair that had just dropped half a bag of chicken nuggets. She dashed over and grabbed the bag before the mother could notice and ran back to Electra. "Got something to eat," she said with her mouth full of paper bag.

"Well done!" exclaimed Electra, "where did you find that?"

Etcetera pointed to the child and beckoned to Electra to follow her and they slipped into a quieter street with houses with big front gardens. "We can sit in a front garden and eat," suggested Etcetera.

Electra peered into the first garden but there was a small dog asleep on the grass so they tiptoed on past without waking it. The second garden had been paved so it wasn't comfortable to sit in but the third garden was grassy with nice shady bushes to sit under.

The kittens sat down and ripped open the bag. They shared the food between them and spent the next few minutes eating in silence. Then they licked their fur clean.

"That was nice," said Electra. Etcetera nodded and both of them lay down for a nap. They were both tired and they fell asleep almost at once.


	5. Chapter 5

Etcetera was first to wake up and she immediately had the feeling she had slept too long. It was raining and water was dripping off the bush they were sleeping under onto her head. It was also getting dark and she realised it had got cold while she was asleep. "Electra! Electra, wake up! It's getting dark. We have to go!"

Electra rolled over and yawned. "What? Where am I?", she muttered. Then she remembered and sat bolt upright. "We have to go home!" She sounded panicky and she looked wildly around her.

"But which way is home?", Etcetera asked her in a quiet voice,"I don't know where we are." She was wet and shivering and her back ached from sleeping uncomfortably.

The two kittens looked at each other in horror as the realisation hit them that they were lost and it was getting dark. They didn't even know which direction to set off in. Etcetera began to cry, "We'll never get home! What do we do now?"

Electra shook her head. She had no idea what they should do now. All she wanted to do was sit down and cry but she looked at Etcetera and decided that she couldn't let her down. She would find a way home! She got up. "Come on, Etcetera. We will find a way home! We can do it! We came from that direction," she pointed back along the road," so we'll start by going that way." Electra pulled Etcetera to her feet.

Etcetera sniffed and managed to stop crying. If Electra thought they could get home then she would help find the way back. Now she wished she had paid more attention to the way they had walked. "Let's get going. We're not getting any drier," she said trying to sound confident again.

Together they set off into the rain. In the dark with the rain everything looked very different to in the sun earlier. After just a few minutes they were no longer sure they were going the right way. Cars sped past them splashing them with water so the were soaked and shivering before they had even reached the end of the road.

Electra marched on purposely as if she wasn't afraid even though she was. "Somebody please find us," she thought,"Please, please, please! They must be out looking for us." But as they trudged on nobody came to rescue them. Trying to remember the way they had come and where they had turned off was a nightmare and they couldn't seem to agree. Every new turning they got to they stopped to argue. After about an hour they reached somewhere that looked familiar.

"I'm sure we've been here before!", Etcetera cried. They were outside a house with red flowers in the window boxes and a neat front garden. They both stood looking up at the house. "Hang on a minute...," said Etcetera slowly, "Isn't this the house we just set off from?" They rushed into the garden and sure enough there was the bush the had slept under. Both kittens sat down heavily and began to cry. It was hopeless, they were never going to find the right way back to the junk yard.

They didn't move for a while but eventually it was Etcetera who got up and pulled Electra to her feet. "We are not giving up! Listen to me! We are not giving up! Think about our friends. We will get home! We can do it together!"

They set off again but turned the other way at the end of the road. "We have to be right this time," mumbled Electra.

They were trudging along sadly when they heard a dog barking. They both jumped and huddled together. They were both vividly remembering the dog that had nearly caught them that morning. They stayed crouching in the the shadows for a few minutes but when no dogs attacked them they ventured out again.

"It was just a dog in a garden," said Electra with a sigh of relief,"I was really scared for a second."

"Me too," agreed Etcetera and they hurried on past the garden. They were hopeful when they saw a small street with a book shop they thought they might remember but when they got closer it turned out to be a different shop after all.

Looking up at the wrong book shop Etcetera wondered how many shops people need. A sharp pain in her leg cut her wondering short. She looked around startled when a small stone hit Electra's ear. "Ow!", she wailed,"What was that?" Then they both heard footsteps and laughter and another stone just missed Etcetera.

A group of boys were coming towards them along the pavement and one of them had picked up a handful of stones and was throwing them at the kittens. His friends were laughing.

"Go away!", Electra shouted at them but of course they couldn't understand her. It was just too unfair to be true, she was wet and cold and lost and now people were throwing stones at her. Neither of them had ever met people who didn't like cats before and they were confused and didn't know what to do.

Dodging a stone Etcetera called to Electra to run and they ran across the road swerving to avoid being hit by a car. When they reached the other side of the road they looked back at the boys. They were laughing and one of them threw a last stone after Electra and Etcetera. "Why are they being so horrid?", asked Etcetera as they turned and ran through a garden and down another side street.

"I don't know," answered Electra,"Try and forget them. We have to concentrate on where we are." She looked around but it was pointless. They were both sure that they had never been there before. All they could do was keep walking and hope they would come across something the knew.

After a while they found themselves in an area full of warehouses. It was like a maze, the roads doubled back, joined roads they had just come from and suddenly ended in dead ends. It was dark and creepy. About half the buildings looked deserted and most of them had gaping smashed windows.

Both Electra and Etcetera were terrified. They jumped at the smallest noise, thought they saw monsters in every shadow and wished they could be anywhere else. They walked as close together as they could and got faster and faster and more panicky the more lost they got.

They were practically running when they reached another dead end and had to turn round again. As they turned Etcetera thought she saw a shadow move behind them in a deserted warehouse. "Electra!", she hissed, "I think something's watching us!"

"What?!" Electra's voice sounded shrill and too loud in the creepy silence. It was completely dark now and they couldn't make anything out very well through the rain however hard they stared back at the warehouse.

"Walk faster!", Etcetera whispered and they sped up. Then they heard a noise behind them. It was only a very quiet noise but it sent a shiver of fear down their spines. It was the noise of paws on the rubbish in the street.

Without needing to talk they both broke into a run at the same moment. All they could think of was the scary stories Jellylorum told them to stop them talking to strange cats.

"What if it's...?", Electra didn't need to finish her question. They were both thinking it... Macavity.

The paws behind them were running now and seemed to be getting closer. Running as fast as they could Etcetera and Electra hurtled round a corner and found themselves trapped. It was a dead end.


	6. Chapter 6

"We're trapped!", screamed Etcetera as they screeched to a halt. They began to jump up at the buildings but the windows were all too high for them to reach. Everything else that had happened to them didn't seem half a horrible as being trapped with a strange cat following them. They ran from side to side looking for a way to escape.

A voice called out of the dark, "Electra, Etcetera!"

Both kittens froze at the sound of their names. "Yes?", squeaked Electra.

"It's me", a shape moved in the dark, "Alonzo".

"Alonzo? Is it really you?", Etcetera asked and they crept closer. Now they could recognise Alonzo. They had never been so relieved and happy to see anyone before. Both of them ran over to Alonzo and jumped on him.

"You found us! You found us!", cheered Electra.

"We're safe now," sighed Etcetera snuggling up to Alonzo. Now she wasn't scared any more she realised how cold and hungry and tired she was.

"Where have you been?", Alonzo demanded,"We've been looking for you since this morning! Everybody is out searching." He was too pleased to have found them both in one piece to be really cross though.

Etcetera said in a small voice,"We went on an adventure. We're sorry." She looked so genuinely sorry that Alonzo didn't ask them any more questions.

"Come on, you two. Let's go home." All three of them set off through the dark streets together. The kittens were yawning and stumbling now and struggling to keep up.

Electra thought to herself:"I hope it's not much further. I don't think I could walk very far. I'm so tired. I wonder how far it is." But she didn't feel she could ask how far it was. It was their own fault after all.

They seemed to walk for hours and Etcetera and Electra were almost asleep on their feet when two shaped melted noiselessly out of the darkness.

"I see you found them then," said one of the shadows. The other turned and ran away ahead of them. "She's gone to tell the others you've got them. Most of them are back by now."

"They are very tired," Alonzo told the other cat, "Can you carry one and I'll take the other one?"

Etcetera only recognised Coricopat when he picked her up. Alonzo picked up Electra and now they were not being asked to walk both kittens fell instantly asleep.

The next thing they knew they were being put down in their own beds safe at home. They could hear adult's voices above them but they didn't really pay them any attention.

"Where were you? What happened to you?", asked Pouncival's voice right in Etcetera's ear.

"We'll tell you about it tomorrow," whispered Etcetera and she went back to sleep. The last thing she thought before she was quite asleep was:"I don't think I'll go on any more adventures. It's much nicer at home."


End file.
